The Bioplastic Revolution: 9 Crazy, Cool Products Made from Plants Not Plastic (Slideshow)

The world's addiction to plastic is filling up landfills, clogging the oceans, and even becoming a food source for birds -- but finding another material that's as durable, heat-resistant, light, and useful hasn't been easy.

One alternative: bioplastics, which have similar end properties to the plastics you already know and love (or hate) but which are made from natural sources like corn, potatoes, tapioca, and sugar. (That's the resin in its pre-product form above.)

The bioplastics industry is growing steadily -- here, we've tracked down some of the most useful, most surprising, and most ingenious uses for the biodegradable, compostable plastics.